2004-10-12 Novell: We Will Protect Our Opensource Customers From Patents
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Synopsis
Novell today publicly commited to use its patent portfolio to protect its open source software offerings. In a policy statement, Novell said it would utilize its patent portfolio to defend against potential intellectual property attacks by others on its open source products. The statement serves to reassure customers that they can choose open source solutions with confidence, knowing they have strong backing from Novell on patent issues.
Sources
EWeek: Novell To Use Patents To Protect Open-Source Programs
Novells Linux-Netware-Integrationsstrategie (insightful comment from a Heise.de reader explaining that Novell is turning Netware into an extension to Linux and therefore has a stronger interest than most other large companies in defending at least the Linux kernel)
Quotes
"In the event the European Union were to allow broader patentability of software, Novell would nonetheless be able to freely market its software offerings, whether closed or open source, in Europe and other jurisdictions that presently favor software patents."
Related Info
Yesterday Munich City announced that they would in the future demand patent indemnification as part of their contract conditions for (OSS-related ?) software contracts.
Comments
When the text says that "the current regime has served the industry well, directive not needed", he could have copy&pasted this from EICTA's hardline-pro-patent statements. In the EPO software patent professional's ear, this is a statement in favor of unlimited patentability according to the EPO's recent standards, which, as far as general-purpose software is concerned, do not significantly differ from those of the US.
However in the ear of unexperienced software developpers at Novell in Europe (e.g. !SuSE), it sounds as if Novell was supporting the provisions of the current European law, which clearly forbid software patents.
Novell's lawyers reinforce this misunderstanding by treating the Council's version of the text as the only version on the table and avoiding any mention of the Parliament's version. By taking a position on the Parliament's version, he would have had to reveal himself.
Novell's lawyers clearly needed to hide their positions in this way, because it is well known that most of Novell's employees dislike the software patent system and some national sections have even made this clear in public statements (see e.g. Warszawa040510En).
Nobody can expect Novell to bear the enormous burden of "defending opensource software". Nobody can blame Novell for rationally playing the patent game, which was imposed on our business community by external forces.
We would however have hoped that Novell take an unambiguous stand on the public policy questions concerning the basic rules of exclusivity and competition of the software business community. This is a minimum requirement of "social responsibility", a much-cited value in corporate image brochures.
Other references with additional quotes from Novell speakers:
